I’m director of design at Erretres, where I enjoy creating brands, playing with type, and baking cake. Check out my blog to see what I’ve been up to.

01.03.24 — Travel

Murcia Forever

It feels a little strange to be writing this post, seeing as I felt like I’d said my goodbyes to Murica last year when my auntie and uncle sold their apartment and moved back to the UK on a permanent basis. I did end the post, however, with an allusion to the fact that they might rent an apartment at some point. That they did, and so once again I grabbed a train and made my way down to the south of Spain to spend a few days with them.

They were staying in an apartment on the same golf complex but in a different location, something which felt quite odd as we drove in on the Friday evening and then I tried to make my way back to the next day. I was up bright and early on the Saturday so I went for a snoop and a trip to the shop to pick up some goodies and enjoy the morning sun.

The area is rather beautiful, more so in the morning sun.

It was nice to have a relaxing first day because we’d plans to spend the evening with a couple of my auntie and uncle’s friends. Hopping in the car together, the five of us headed to a lovely restaurant in a nearby town, owned by a Chilean guy and his wife who is from Madrid. I first went to this place with my auntie and uncle a couple of years ago and we had a great time, so I was excited to go back.

This cat was keeping watch of things as we headed out for the evening.

At the resultant, the food did not disappoint once again, with a seemingly endless selection of soups, seafood, meats, and drinks. With the whole restaurant on endless glasses of wine, things soon got a little animated, ending in a quasi-karaoke session complete with wigs provided by the owners. It was lots of fun!

The next day it was time for us to head down to the coast, where we’d booked a table at one of our favourite tapas restaurants. The weather wasn’t looking so lovely but we did run into a little street market, where I got chatting to a lady on one of the stalls and bought a surprise gift for one of my friends.

Despite the grey skies, the food was excellent and I was happy because we stopped off on the way home to grab some chocolate from Aldi. Chocolate makes any day better!

As Monday came around it was time for me to connect to work, something I did rather less begrudgingly than usual as I managed caved out a spot for myself on the resort’s terrace. It was a glorious day with the sun beating down, so I ordered an orange juice and started work under the shade of a parasol. Fabulous!

In the afternoon the sky began treating us to a colourful light show.

My auntie and uncle swung by the resort’s bar just before I finished work, which gave us chance to have a quick chat and a drink before the sun began to set. When it finally did, we were in for a real treat, as we were lucky enough to just catch it as it began to illuminate the sky over the lake. I love a good sunset, so I stayed there for a good while taking photos while the two of them walked back to the apartment. Here’s a photo dump, selected after much agonising over which were the best of the best.

The next day was then my last; these trips down to Murcia always seem to fly by. I had the day off work and we had a plan, so we got in the car and made our way back down to the coast for a bit of shopping and a quick stroll along the beach. I was happy because I managed to get some Branston Pickle from the British shop and my auntie and uncle were happy as I then took them out to lunch to say thank you for having me. I’ll say it again on here, though: thanks for having me!

Once we’d enjoyed a rather filling menú del día, it was time for me to get one last lift to the train station and await the first of two trains that would take me back up to the capital, with an hour in Alicante which gave me enough time to enjoy the sunset there whilst I had a coffee.

I’ll end the post with this photo of my auntie, which I’ve checked and she’s happy for me to put on. It’s from the night at the Chilean restaurant once all the wigs had been dragged out!